


Flightless

by frostysunflowers



Category: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/M, Feelings, Hurt/Comfort, Movie: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, sparrabeth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-11-01 12:38:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17867432
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frostysunflowers/pseuds/frostysunflowers
Summary: Jack goes down with his ship.But he isn't alone.





	Flightless

**Author's Note:**

> Having recently rediscovered my love for Pirates of the Caribbean, this is an idea that just wouldn't get out of my head. I wrote this is in the space of an evening so please do not expect a masterpiece...or something that has even been decently proof-read come to that...*ahem* 
> 
> I have taken some liberties I daresay and I can't even promise it's very much in character but I do hope you enjoy!

Overwhelming panic floods his mind. 

Not fear though. 

Worry, yes. Concern for his life; absolutely. Dread? Most assuredly. 

Fear? 

Not Captain Jack Sparrow, and a pox on anyone who dares to suggest otherwise. 

Nay, it’s sheer desperation that compels him to tug furiously at the manacle encircling his wrist in an unyielding grip. 

_Bugger bugger bugger bugger!_

A sinister growling from somewhere beneath the ship has Jack casting his eyes around, rapidly searching for any sign of the wretched beastie lurking nearby. The deck tilts to the side, rocking slowly back against the waves that he can hear beginning to form, and he feels the sinking feeling in his stomach turn into a gaping hole.

_Bugger!_

His gaze catches upon a discarded lantern and he seizes the opportunity to lift it up with his sword and smash it against the mast he is chained to, spilling the melted wax over his hand. He grimaces as the manacle slips just past his wrist, his rings biting nastily into the calluses on his stained fingers but he doesn’t let up, and pulls and pulls until he’s near yelling with the force-

His hand slips free so suddenly that he nearly falls over before catching himself, wiggling his fingers in glee as he grins in triumph. 

Then, a prickle of something horrendous creeps across his back and sweeps across his very being in a chilling wave, instantly wiping the smile from his face. The air suddenly fills with the scent of blood and death, cloying and putrid, and he feels the heat whip against his back. 

The fear is there now. Relentless and insidious, swirling within him like oil in water; undeniable and unmistakeable. His heart bounces against his ribs with a shattering force and his mouth goes dry. 

He slowly turns on his feet and barely catches a glimpse of waving tentacles and a cavern of teeth before a deafening roar renders him breathless and a stream of thick, putrid mucus sprays all over him and the ship. The fear clings on with a fierce grip but somehow he stands his ground. He shudders and wipes a gob of gunk from his face. Though his insides are bubbling with naught but horror, he merely twitches his face in disgust at the creature before him.

‘’Not so bad.’’

He catches sight of his hat resting at his feet and feels a momentary snippet of comfort as he snatches up the tattered old thing. As he whips the mess from it, the sound of shouting and footfalls makes him lift his head and stare in disbelief at the sight before him. 

There is Elizabeth, soaked through to the skin, hurrying across the deck towards him, her face pinched with that look of determination he knows oh so well by now. He blinks at her, heart racing even more furiously at the sight of her, unsure if she is even real, but the way her feet slip on the slime splattered across the deck tells him that she is. He can hear the familiar voices of his crew, of young Will, calling desperately from somewhere over the port side of the Pearl, but she pays them no heed as she moves towards where he stands at the mercy of the Kraken. 

She doesn’t look at him. Instead, she positions herself in front of him with her sword poised for a strike, bold in the face of terror, as though she can protect him from the doom that looms before them. The very notion makes him want to laugh out loud, but he doesn’t. 

Because if anybody could take on a monster and win; if anybody could even stand a chance of saving his soul, patchworked with dreams and regrets, rum and scars and deeds of good and bad as it is…

Of course, it would be her.

Elizabeth Swann with her mane of golden hair and her sparkling eyes that could bring many a man to his knees were he to merely look upon her. _Lizzie_ with her tenacious spirit, her pretty mouth that had driven him almost mad on more than one occasion and her soul full of fire and life…

A pirate if there ever was one. 

He doesn’t know why she’s here. She isn’t pleading with him to run or pulling him to where he knows the longboat is waiting nearby; she isn’t trying to save him. 

But she’s here. 

Whether if it’s out of guilt for her choice to chain him to the mast and leave him behind to die mere moments ago, or because of the undeniable and maddening curiosity that continues to pull them together no matter what they do, he doesn’t know.

And he doesn’t care. 

She, his would-be murderess, this high society girl turned pirate, this bloody woman who vexes him so, this bewitching creature who he has desired to kiss and damn near wanted to kill so many times, is here. 

He looks down as Elizabeth reaches her free hand behind her, blood stained fingers reaching out for his own. 

If he was a better man, a stronger man – a good man – he’d tell her to run for her bloody life, shove her over the side into the waiting arms of her dear William; even run her through himself to spare her the pain of what is about to happen. 

Instead, he reaches out and takes her hand. 

Clutching his own sword with the other, he steps forward until he is beside her, shoulders touching, and there they stand together; two flightless birds in both name and position, staring into the cavernous, dagger-filled maw that promises nothing but agony and darkness. 

Jack takes a deep breath and a wry smile crosses his face as he feels Elizabeth squeeze his hand and let out a shaky whistle of air that almost sounds like his name. 

His heart slows to a steady rhythm. The fear is gone now; all he can feel is her and his beloved Pearl, and for him, in that very moment, it’s enough.

‘’Hello beastie.’’ 

They don’t look at each other as they surge forward to meet the Kraken. No final words are shared; none are needed, not between them. Their swords arc gracefully through the air in one final act of defiance of their fate, and then pain is all there is; a biting, piercing, dragging torture that tears him through the darkness…

And Elizabeth’s fingers, small and delicate and yet oh so strong, clasping tightly onto his own, all the way to the very end.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
